So lets talk about food storage for a bit tonight. I have been hearing a lot about the drought in the mid west US Some people are worried that the price of food is going to go up. Yes, this could happen it may not happen. It will depend on how long the drought lasts. Most important do not PANIC!!!

Yes this is the kind of thing a prepper gets ready for in advance.

It is never a good idea to run out and buy things when you are upset, frightened, worried or angry. Take time to evaluate the situation. Again take inventory of how much food do you already have in your home? Count the number of servings and dived by 3 meals a day then divide  that number by the number of people you feed each day. This will give you the number of days of food you have. You need to know that very often a serving is not near what you are use to eating. It may be as small as 1/4 cup. You may want to think about how many people you are serving with that box of mac and cheese. Mac and cheese has 2 servings per box, 15oz can of chili has 2 servings, Ramon noodle has 2 servings, Rice a Roni 2 servings. The number of servings is listed in the nutrition facts box of the label of the food.

If you have  2 years of food per person you have all the food you are likely to need.

Now that you know how many days of food you have you can make a plan of how many days of food you want to have. There are limiting factors. Your income will affect what kind of food and how much of it you buy. I will be going over the more provident food storage. This means the most bang for the buck. If you want high end pre-made meals good till the end of time. Please rethink your plan. My plan is to be able to live as long as possible with what I have and to be able to restock over time.

I place food storage into 3 categories.

1. Hard storage. This is food that will last a long time. More than 10 years
2. Firm storage. This is food that will last at least a a year.
3. Soft storage. This is food that lasts less than a year.
*Perishable foods. This is food that will spoil quickly if it is not frozen or refrigerated. Perishable foods are not part of food storage.




Hard Storage has only a few items that can meet this qualification. Wheat is the number one food storage item for long term storage. Some other grains have a long shelf life but,the only grain I know will last more than 10 years is wheat. Honey and sugar will also last a long time. The tombs in Egypt had wheat that was still able to be sprouted after 2000 years. They also contained honey that was still as useful as the day it was placed in the tomb.  Sugar is also good for very long storage. You should always store wheat, honey and sugar in a dry place away from insects. water and Insects are the number one enemy to food storage. One gallon can of wheat= about 5 pounds of food. An adult will eat 5 to 10 pounds of wheat in 3 weeks. A child will eat about half that much. For a 6 month supply of wheat you can set a goal of 80 pounds of wheat per person.  That is 16 gallon cans of wheat.
    Sugar and honey are part of food storage that is very hard to gage. I store 1 pound of sugar or honey for every 10 pounds of wheat.

Firm storage includes a very large number of items. Canned goods, boxed goods, grains like rice and barley can last several years. When planning your storage store things from this category that are on you regular shopping list. This is the working rotating part of storage. The best way to build this storage is to buy a little extra with each shopping trip. When foods you routinely eat are on sale buy extra. If your store has case lot sales stock up then. Beware that foods that are not selling well are put on sale. Often the sale has foods that are near the end of their expiration date. ALWAYS check the use by date of the foods you buy for storage. If it is less than 18 months out it is not for storage, it is for use very soon.  Boxed foods DO NOT buy any cans that are dented, bent or bulging. They will not last and may be poisonous.
Plan to purchasing over time 3 to 6 months of food in this category. You need to have a rotation plan so your food dose not end up spoiled and in the trash. Always place new purchased food in the back and rotate older foods to the front.

Soft storage. This food is any boxed or canned food that has a use by date with in the next 18 months. This also includes winter squash, and other long lived vegetables. Eggs can last several months if properly stored.  This should only be things you frequent eat or need to rotate out of storage.

Perishable food is what you have in your refrigerator or your freezer. This food will be lost if the power is out for more than a few days. In an emergency this is the food you need to eat first.